Tata Steel aims to complete decarbonisation at UK plant in next 3 yrs: CEO

Tata Steel aims to complete the decarbonization process at its plant in Britain over the next three years, the company’s CEO TV Narendran said.

As part of its decarbonization plan, the company will transition to a low-emission electric arc furnace (EAF) process from the blast furnace route (BF), which is nearing end of life in the coming months.

India-based Tata Steel owns Britain’s largest steel mill with a production capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) at Port Talbot in South Wales and employs around 8,000 people across its operations in that country.

“The consultation process with the unions is ongoing.

We also need a number of (other) permits. Some of the infrastructure needs to be upgraded. Much work still needs to be done. It has already started. We hope that in the next three years we have to complete the entire journey,” Narendran told PTI.

He made the comments in response to a question about the timeline for the company’s decarbonization plan, which Narendran had previously said was not possible without financial support from the British government.

Replying to another question, Narendran, who is also the director of the company, said his company is working with a few European suppliers to supply the new factory machines.

It will largely come from European suppliers, because technically most capital equipment suppliers are in Europe, Japan or Korea, but this will largely come from Europe, he said.

Tata Steel and the UK government recently agreed a £1.25 billion joint investment plan to implement decarbonisation plans at the Port Talbot steelmaking plant in Britain.

Narendran further said that of the £1.25 billion, £500 million will come from the British government.

He said it is landmark funding that we will get (from the UK government). The rest will come partly from internal resources, but also from loans.

There are no plans to increase the plant’s capacity, he added.